Lessons learned from Mountain Biking

Mountain biking can be a nice analogy for life. Here are few things I’ve learned while riding my bike that are directly applicable to life:

Focus on the task before you – As you approach a hill, it is easy to get overwhelmed if you focus on the size of the entire hill. Only think about the 10 feet directly in front of you. Understand how the 10 feet fits into the larger picture, but only concentrate on the 10 feet directly in front of you.

Learn from your mistakes – When you fall, and you inevitably will, take a moment to analyze what went wrong. Either you picked a bad line, you were leaning the wrong way, whatever. Figure it out, so you don’t make that mistake again. Our shortcomings and failures offer far better opportunities for growth than our successes.

Don’t focus on the obstacles – A strange thing happens when you are riding down a trail and you focus on the big rock ahead. Your bike will veer right towards the rock. Your body instinctively will go towards whatever your eyes are fixated on. Focus on the path around the obstacle, not the obstacle itself.